Ellery Harding Clark

Biography Clark is the only person to have won both the Olympic high jump and long jump. Clark achieved it in 1896, at the first modern Olympics in Athens. A Harvard student, he was given a leave of absence to compete because of his high grades - in contrast to another gold medal winner from Harvard, James Connolly. Clark was one of the top all-around athletes from 1893 to 1912.

In the long jump, Clark had used his hat to mark his runway. Twice the judge (King Constantine of Greece) had removed the hat, saying this was a practice of professionals. Only at the third attempt, and without the hat, did Clark achieve a valid jump, good enough for gold. His final jump was of 6.35 meters. Clark later won the high jump as well, clearing 1.81 meters. The closest competitors were fellow Americans Connolly and Robert Garrett at 1.65 meters. In the shot put, Clark was among the bottom three of the seven-man field. The engagement and subsequent marriage caused something of a stir in the press - Clark was a millionaire and Maddalena was from the 'South end slums'.

In 1949, he died at the age 75 on a train en route from Boston to his home at Cohasset.